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Infant tossed out of window

A firefighter tosses burnt furniture Wednesday from a second-story window at the scene of a house fire on the 400 block of Pillow Street.
2 others jump to safety from the 2nd floor

An infant was dropped from a second-story window into a family member's arms as a family escaped a house fire on the 400 block of Pillow Street Wednesday afternoon.

Fire Chief Nick Ban said neither the infant nor the five other family members in the two-story home were injured.

Ban said two other family members jumped from another window on the second floor.

Melinda Anderson lived in the home with her husband, children and grandchildren.

Anderson's husband was not home at the time.

Ban said at the scene the cause of the fire was unknown. The blaze started in a second story bedroom.

“Most of the heavy heat and smoke damage was contained to that room,” Ban said, estimating the damage to the structure at $25,000 and to the family's belongings at $7,000. The family did not have renters' insurance, Ban said.

Firefighters removed several burnt pieces of furniture from the second floor, including a bed.

Melvin Hunter, Anderson's father, said at the scene that the family was unharmed.

“They're just shaken up,” he said.

Hunter said he did not know about the family escaping through the second story windows.The home is at the corner of Pillow Street and Ninth Avenue.The family gathered inside the Butler Coin-Op Laundromat across the street as firefighters extinguished the flames.Ban condemned the home and its utilities were shut off.“It's not livable,” he said, adding it would be up to the property owners to determine if it will be repaired.William Stoughton owns the property and it was insured.City firefighters were assisted at the scene by city police and V.A. Butler Healthcare's fire department.All units were back in service by 6:30 p.m.

The estimated damage of a house fi reWednesday afternoon on the 400 block ofPillow St. is $25,000 to the structure and$7,000 to the family's belongings. Fire ChiefNick Ban said the family did not have renters'insurance.

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